Florida!

 

I went on a vacation to Florida!  By myself!  Five days of doing just what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, with no laundry or dishes or work or responsibility of any sort.  How crazy!  It was fun and relaxing and also lonely and disorienting at times (especially before my friend Donna joined me for days 3-5). It was also hard to come back home to (yet more) snow and cold after so many days of *utterly perfect* weather.  Having never been to Florida before in my life, I never understood what all the fuss is about.  I get it now.  Southern Florida in March is amazing.  All blue and green and palm trees and sunshine and temperatures that just feel like silk on your skin.  Add to that some day drinking and two Indigo Girls concerts... Donna and I may have asked Florida to marry us a few times, we were loving it so much.  Sigh.

It is good to be back with my family and pets, and routines are good for me... but it turns out vacation was pretty good for me too.  I think I'll do it again sometime. 

Here's the photo-highlight tour for those who did not already follow along with my copious photo posts on Facebook. 

Enroute.  My day started at 3:30am to make my 6:00 flight. Cut it closer than I expected as the lines at Hopkins were crazy!  Got to know a few of my fellow travelers as we waited together, wondering if we'd be on time...Travel still feels like kind of a crazy thing to do...

My first palm tree!  One step outside of baggage claim.

After some time-consuming shenanagins with my rental car, and then a call cancelling my afternoon snorkeling trip on the Islamorada reef (high winds, apparently), I regrouped and headed towards the southern tip of Florida anyways.  Decided at the last minute to make the turn towards Everglades National Park before heading to the Keys, since I was no longer on a time crunch. 

First stop: Robert Is Here farmstand.  Home of the best mango I have ever eaten.

Arrived at the Ernest Coe visitor center with no agenda in mind, figured I'd buy a magnet and maybe a car pass and just drive around the park.  Then I saw the sign board by the entrance (see it down there?) advertising a ranger-led "wet walk" at 1:30 and thought- that sounds like the sort of thing I should try!  There was one spot left on the tour so it was apparently meant to be. 

Driving over to the Royal Palm visitor center.  I did not see any bobcats, but I *could* have.

Took a walk on the Ahinga boardwalk while I waited.  I did not see any alligators but I *could* have.  There were signs saying not to feed them. 

Off to the cypress dome!  We started in ankle deep water with dwarf cypress just coming into leaf. Dragonflies flitted about, and we learned about paraphytin, the gross-looking but vital agaie floating around our feet. 

As we went further, we noticed the trees were getting bigger, and the water, deeper.

Air-plants clung to every trunk, many in bloom.

The water was brown from tannic acid, leached from the cypress bark.  The trees thickened and fern-covered island of foliage appeared.  We had to look at our feet most of the time to navigate the roots and holes underwater, so it was hard to notice the moment we were suddenly IN the cypress dome, where the water was deep enough for full grown trees...

... and for alligators.  We learned that gators make their homes in the domes because the water is *almost* deep enough for them.  They just do a little remodeling, digging out a slightly deeper pool in the middle.  The deeper water attracts fish, who attract ahingas and other birds, and the gators can just lay there and munch on the buffet.  I love that alligators are engineers!  Also that we were in the water with one (about 20 feet away, but still...)

This mom-and-kid pair were super cute the whole tour.  I love the looks on their faces as they see the gator through the ferns.

There he is!  He did not move while we watched him.  Which I am ok with.

After the tour, I changed clothes in the car, like you do, and checked out one more overlook on my way out of the Everglades. 

Then it was south to the Keys!  The highway was fascinating,  one lane on each side, very few exits, no towns or amenities.  No choice but to head to the end of the road...

Once I made it to Key Largo, the first order of business was to find a beach.  Visited the John Pennekampf state park, which was very cute, and enjoyed a lovely swim at the aptly named Cannon beach.  Facing north into the bay instead of out to sea, the water here was super calm, and it was one of the nicest salt water swimming experiences I've ever had.  There was apparently a coral reef at the beach but lacking in any sort of snorkeling gear or goggles I coudn't see much.  Pretty sure I saw a bit of the Spanish shipwreck that was there, though.  

Treated myself to dinner and a drink at the Bayside Grill.

I can see why people like the Keys.  Sometime I will get back here for more than 3 hours.

The drive 2 hours back north to our Airbnb in Pompano Beach was easy and without incident- and I slept VERY well that night. 

Day two:  morning coffee at the Airbnb, then a walk to the beach.  The super-duper close beach access was closed for some sort of construction, so I explored a bit further down and discovered a hidden entrance, almost unnoticeable from the street and with sudden angles and surprising vistas, opening onto the quiet end of the beach.

Walked down to the inlet to say hi to the lighthouse and back...

.... then it was off for my touristy adventure of the day, Flamingo Gardens. 

It turned out to be exactly the sort of place I'd have taken the kids if they were along.  Which was not a problem because I love this sort of place, and would have enjoyed myself the most of anyone in our family, regardless.  Loved the animal encounter show, with this energetic young presenter who reallllly likes possums...

Toured a small historic home on the property...

... and loved this giant tree.

The weather forecast looked changeable later in the day so I decided to hit the beach as soon as possible. Mapped myself to the closest beach I could find, which was Dania Beach and which was perfect. I opted for the state park side of things and discovered a gorgeous (if very windy) oceanfront beach, the Whiskey Creek restaurant, and this amazing party atmosphere over on the creek side of things. 

No calm swimming here today!

Took a Kayak down the creek instead.

Tropical paradise!  

Went back and relaxed at the Airbnb for a bit, then headed south.  Donna was due to arrive at the Miami airport at 10pm so I decided to use this opportunity to see South Beach. 

This was definitely one of those lonely times of the trip. Nothing like wandering along, alone, among throngs of people out having fun with their families and friends. Definitely some amazing people- watching, though!  I can't tell you how many people were out walking along the strip in their bathing suits and high heels.  And I got a few glimpses of the Art Deco architecture even in the dark. 

This is turning out to be quite the travelog!  I think I'll pause here and come back with days 3-5 for you, soon.